Snapshots from the moon: NASA photographs from the earliest manned space flights
NASA’s Apollo program landed the first humans on the moon in 1969. In the next three years, Apollo sent 10 more men to the moon in five subsequent missions. The first moon landing in particular is a legendarily well-documented event, representing one of those rare moments in which the world was united in awe, witnessing the feat together on their television screens. But each Apollo mission also generated hundreds of photographs, many of which have only recently been released by NASA. A selection of these images--shot by the astronauts themselves with suit-mounted and handheld Hasselblad cameras--are gathered in this beautifully designed, affordable volume.
Many of the photographs, though shot originally for scientific, documentary purposes, have an extraordinary snapshot quality, boasting inadvertently artful compositions and effects: in one, a pair of astronaut’s legs emerges upside down from the bottom of the frame; in another, a striding astronaut appears to glow against the black recesses of space.
Contextualized with background information about the Apollo Missions and the role of photographic documentation in them, the photographs in The Moon 1968–1972 are fascinating documents of the majesty of outer space, but also record the surface of the moon as a landscape of wonder. This is the moon of which E.B. White wrote in the July 1969 issue of The New Yorker: “The moon, it turns out, is a great place for men. One-sixth gravity must be a lot of fun, and when Armstrong and Aldrin went into their bouncy little dance, like two happy children, it was a moment not only of triumph but of gaity.”
Harrison “Jack” Schmitt as he deploys the SEP (Surface Electrical Properties) transmitter, part of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP). Photo by Eugene “Gene” Cernan. [Apollo 17], reproduced from 'The Moon 1968–1972.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Photo District News
At a time when archival images are often hastily assembled into digital galleries that get passed around briefly on social media, it’s especially satisfying to sit with an affordable ($18), carefully edited, designed and printed archive of photographs of historical significance and esthetic value.
Photobook Review
Marvin Heiferman
The Moon 1968-1972, a… provocative little book, features a selection of otherworldly images from NASA’s archives that juxtaposes the sublime with sightseeing, pits philosophical and propagandistic readings against documentary ones, and contrasts the moon’s eerily laid and articulated surface with the stark blankness of outer space.
Hyperallergic
Edward M. Gomez
...evokes the rich mixture of emotion, yearning and speculation that have long surrounded Earth’s mysterious companion and neighbor...this slim, elegant volume also serves as a bittersweet reminder of a time when, despite the tensions of the Cold War — and, in part, thanks to the motivations they engendered — Americans still dared to dream big, sharing a collective spirit of awe over the historic achievements of an innovative, ambitious, tax-supported space program.
Time, Best Photobooks of 2016
Marvin Heiferman
An eerily placid and provocative little book, featuring stark but spectacular photos from NASA’s Apollo archives that juxtapose sight-seeing, science and the sublime.
The New York Times
Su Wu
Less famous images: accidental double exposures, messy takes of experiment sites and off-kilter photos of horizon lines...And the less iconic b-roll just adds to the narrative of ever expansive space.
Artdesk
The 1969 moon landing and the five more missions in the years that followed generated hundreds of photographs taken by the astronauts themselves. Photographs from every Apollo mission offer a glimpse not only of the historical moment when man first set foot on the lunar landscape, but of stunning compositions of space and the unknown.
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In July of 1969, Apollo 11 astronaut and Lunar Module Pilot "Buzz" Aldrin shot this photograph of Tranquility Base and the American flag with a 70mm Hasselblad camera specially designed for outer space. "Prior to their missions," publisher Tom Adler writes, "all of the Apollo astronauts trained extensively with the sophisticated Hasselblads, taking hundreds of photographs in challenging real and simulated settings in order to familiarize themselves with the technology. They were even encouraged to take the cameras on family trips. Once they reached the Moon, the astronauts wandered like tourists, photographing 'targets of opportunity' and whatever else they found interesting or dramatic. The most iconic images have become part of our collective human memory." continue to blog
Let's hear it for science! On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered an exceptionally optimistic speech laying out his plan to send Americans to the Moon. Before 35,000 people gathered at the Rice University football stadium, he concluded, "Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, 'Because it is there.' Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked." This text excerpt and Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan's 1972 photograph of Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt alongside "Tracy’s Rock" are reproduced from T. Adler's elegant Fathers Day favorite, The Moon 1968–1972. continue to blog
Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 lunar landing, and we're celebrating with T. Adler's superbly curated collection of Moon photographs. Featured photograph, of Station 9 in front of the East Massif, the Moon, was made in 1972 by Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan. It is one of almost 20,000 pictures taken over 10 Apollo missions. "Although the astronauts’ task was simply to document their activities and strange surroundings, many of the images have unintended artful compositions," Tom Adler writes. “'Sunstruck' tonal shifts and in-camera cropping only enhance their unconscious aesthetic and beautiful, deft outtake quality." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 6 x 8 in. / 48 pgs / 34 color / 8 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $18.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $25.5 GBP £16.00 ISBN: 9781942884057 PUBLISHER: T. Adler Books AVAILABLE: 9/27/2016 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: Out of stock TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by T. Adler Books. Text by E.B. White, John F. Kennedy.
Snapshots from the moon: NASA photographs from the earliest manned space flights
NASA’s Apollo program landed the first humans on the moon in 1969. In the next three years, Apollo sent 10 more men to the moon in five subsequent missions. The first moon landing in particular is a legendarily well-documented event, representing one of those rare moments in which the world was united in awe, witnessing the feat together on their television screens. But each Apollo mission also generated hundreds of photographs, many of which have only recently been released by NASA. A selection of these images--shot by the astronauts themselves with suit-mounted and handheld Hasselblad cameras--are gathered in this beautifully designed, affordable volume.
Many of the photographs, though shot originally for scientific, documentary purposes, have an extraordinary snapshot quality, boasting inadvertently artful compositions and effects: in one, a pair of astronaut’s legs emerges upside down from the bottom of the frame; in another, a striding astronaut appears to glow against the black recesses of space.
Contextualized with background information about the Apollo Missions and the role of photographic documentation in them, the photographs in The Moon 1968–1972 are fascinating documents of the majesty of outer space, but also record the surface of the moon as a landscape of wonder. This is the moon of which E.B. White wrote in the July 1969 issue of The New Yorker: “The moon, it turns out, is a great place for men. One-sixth gravity must be a lot of fun, and when Armstrong and Aldrin went into their bouncy little dance, like two happy children, it was a moment not only of triumph but of gaity.”
